People

July 15, 2019

PartnerRe announced that Jonathan Colello has joined the company effective July 1, 2019, as CEO for P&C Americas and president of Partner Reinsurance Co. of the U.S. In his new role, Colello will have executive responsibility for leading PartnerRe’s property and casualty business in the U.S., Canada and Latin America, and for the company’s health business in the U.S. Colello will report to Emmanuel Clarke, PartnerRe president and CEO, and will be a member of the company’s executive leadership team.

Most recently, Colello served as president for North America for AXIS Re. Previously, he served as president and chief underwriting officer, U.S., for AXIS Re.

Hub International Northeast Limited, a subsidiary of Hub International Limited, has re-hired James Hutchinson as executive vice president of Commercial Lines. In this role, Hutchinson will report directly to Paul Collins, Hub Northeast president and CEO, and serve as part of the region’s executive management team. Hutchinson will be responsible for the management of internal efforts within the commercial lines division of Hub Northeast, including the oversight of marketing efforts and working closely with Hub’s client service departments. He will be working in partnership with Ken Schreiber, who will continue to serve as Hub Northeast’s president of commercial lines. Hutchinson previously held a variety of marketing roles at Hub Northeast from 1996 to 2014, including chief marketing officer and senior vice president. Most recently, he served as senior vice president of Field Operations for The Navigators Group Inc.

Mark Ray of Borden Insurance Agency in Corpus Christi, Texas, has been elected to serve as chair of the Independent Insurance Agents of Texas (IIAT) for 2019-2020. Gaylon Brown of TexCap Insurance in Dallas was elected to serve as vice chair and Robert Nitsche of The Nitsche Group in Giddings was tapped as chair-elect. Ray is vice president of Borden Insurance Agency. He started his career as a commercial insurance agent with Swantner and Gordon Insurance Agency before joining Borden Insurance more than 14 years ago. Brown is CEO and managing partner of TexCap Insurance. He began his insurance career with Millerman & Millerman Insurance Agency (M&M). Brown became a partner at M&M in 1975, which was later sold to Brook Crawford & Associates in 1992, and subsequently to Hilb, Rogal & Hamilton (HRH) in 1994. Brown served as executive vice president of HRH until his resignation in October 2005, at which time he helped found TexCap Insurance. Nitsche is president and CEO of The Nitsche Group. He grew up in the insurance agency, spending time in multiple departments at The Nitsche Group. In 1995, he assumed the role of CFO until 2010 when his father, RJ, appointed him CEO.

Specialty insurer Beazley has hired Jennifer Lushbough Beard as cyber and technology underwriter. She covers the South Central region from Beazley’s Houston office. Lushbough Beard joins Beazley from Chubb where she spent 12 years underwriting a range of professional, technology and cyber liability risks. Most recently, she held the role of senior professional liability underwriter. Before joining Chubb, which was then ACE, in 2007, Lushbough Beard was an account manager at Alliant Insurance Co.

High Street Insurance Partners, a Michigan-based provider of commercial insurance, personal lines and employee benefits services, appointed Dave Tuit as senior partner and chief financial officer. Tuit joins a management team led by High Street executives Scott Wick, managing partner and CEO, and Randall Koch, managing director and chief operating officer, to help pursue growth through expansion opportunities in the insurance agency market. Most recently, Tuit served as CFO and treasurer for Acrisure. He has also led finance and operations for the strategic investment and business development arm of Amway.

Alera Group, a national employee benefits, property and casualty, risk management and wealth management firm based in Deerfield, Ill., appointed Mark Englert as national property and casualty practice leader. Englert will work with firms across the nation to enhance client experiences, build capabilities and coordinate services and resources between firms. He also will look for additional capabilities already in existence within Alera Group, as well as identify areas to enhance. Englert comes to Alera Group from a national insurance broker, where he was a managing director.

Ali Payne has joined insurance services firm Holmes Murphy in Waukee, Iowa, as practice leader for Organizational Wellbeing. Payne spent the last 15 years with Gallagher. At Holmes Murphy, she will work to create a new division focused specifically on all facets of organizational and client wellbeing and success. Payne will also collaborate with the company’s human resources team to provide employees with a positive work environment.

The Central Insurance Companies has promoted David Lee to assistant vice president in its Southeast regional office, effective June 3, 2019. Lee joined Central in 2003 in the Claims department. During his career with Central, he has also held positions in both Personal Lines and Commercial Lines underwriting before becoming Marketing manager for North and East Georgia. He was promoted to Regional Marketing manager for the Southeast region in 2016, managing the five regional marketing managers. Lee will work with Keith Moore, Southeast regional manager and senior vice president, on strategic perpetuation of the underwriting, marketing and claims functions serving Central’s agency partners in Georgia, Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia before Moore’s planned retirement in November 2019.

Atlas Insurance Management, a captive insurance management firm, has hired Spencer Caldwell as an account manager to its office in Charlotte, N.C. Spencer previously worked as a captive financial analyst for the North Carolina Department of Insurance, in Raleigh, N.C. As an account manager for Atlas, Caldwell’s duties will include reporting and reconciling account statements, investments and domicile reporting requirements.

Woodruff Sawyer has named Seth Pfalzer and Erin Stephenson to new leadership roles in the Northern California management liability practice. Pfalzer has been named Northern California management liability practice leader. He is responsible for providing strategic oversight for the practice. Pfalzer joined Woodruff Sawyer in 2009. Stephenson has been named practice manager of the firm’s Northern California management liability team. Stephenson oversees business operations.

San Diego, Calif.-based Cavignac & Associates has named Natalie Sherod as an account executive within its commercial department. Sherod is charged with maintaining relationships with existing clients, handling renewals and prospecting for sales leads. She was previously senior territory manager for Liberty Mutual and a commercial underwriter for Golden Eagle before that.

Newfront Insurance in San Francisco, Calif. has named Mike Daoussis as principal and head of program innovation. Daoussis will focus on building programs for Newfront. Daoussis has spent the past eight years as vice president at USI. He previously worked at Willis Towers Watson, Lockton Insurance Brokers and Guy Carpenter & Co.